Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man. – Review – book review
Kendrick Frazier
Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man. Roger Downey. Copernicus/Springer-Verlag, New York, NY 10010. 2000. ISBN 0-387-98877-7. 216 pp. Hardcover. $25. Since the discovery of the bones of “Kennewick man” in eastern Washington state in 1996, the controversy over both the archaeological significance of the discovery and the rights of scientists to examine the bones has never let up. The author contends that it is wrong to portray this as another confrontation between science and superstition, “the individual’s right to pursue knowledge freely blocked by a bureaucracy in service of a reactionary religious agenda.” He says the reality is far more complex and ambiguous. “Kennewick Man’s story embodies not only a conflict between science and religion but conflicts between scientists espousing radically different worldviews.”
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